I Messed Up Bad

[JCooperfan1911]

Yesterday I attempted to install a rear sling swivel into the stock of my Mossberg 500 shotgun. I am not a gunsmith but thought it was a job I could handle. I was wrong.



As you can see, my bumbling stupid self got the stud off center. I am very upset by this and feel like a failure. This is not a high dollar gun and I plan to use it for home defense but this still bothers me greatly.

What would you all do about this? Should I take it to a local gunsmith here or just attempt to live with it? I am very depressed and just need some advice. Thank you.

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

When i put studs on. I use my calibers to mark the center.

 

[Hartkopf]

Re drill a little further back and make it straight and on center. Plug the screwed up hole.

This is a small mess up seeing there is not a hole in a human!

 

[WrongHanded]

I am very depressed and just need some advice. Thank you.

Providing it stays put when you sling the shotgun over your shoulder, this is a problem so insignificant that it does not warrant one more second of you time. Stop worrying about it. Spend your feelings on something worthy of them.

 

[Blue Jays]

That would drive my CDO condition absolutely nuts.
CDO is similar to OCD, yet alphabetized, as it should be.
Mount it straight, plug hole, and refinish stock. Done.

 

[Hartkopf]

That would drive my CDO condition absolutely nuts.
CDO is similar to OCD, yet alphabetized, as it should be.
Mount it straight, plug hole, and refinish stock. Done.

I thought you had that rare combination of dyslexia and OCD for a minute there!

 

[Mal H]

Re drill a little further back and make it straight and on center. Plug the screwed up hole.

That's exactly what I was going to suggest. If you have access to a drill press, that would make the alignment much simpler to achieve and control.

I would use a center punch at the new spot to be certain the drill bit doesn't have a tendency to wander which is almost impossible to prevent on a sharp curve like there is on the stock.

 

[X62503]

It's hardly noticeable, but I understand what you're saying.

 

[.38 Special]

I feel for the OP. I learned the same lesson myself, years ago. It's tougher than it looks.

I lived with the result for years - it worked just fine, and no one else ever noticed - but it bugged me enough that I eventually plugged the hole with plastic wood and redrilled it in a slightly different spot.

 

[Targa]

Off center yes, but I don’t think it’s that bad. I would leave it as is.

 

[WestKentucky]

Plug the hole and try again. This is a lesson in do it once do it right. At least it’s a cheap lesson. 1/4” hole, 1/4 dowel glued in, intentionally JUST below surface height, drill theough the dowel and try it again.hopefully with a longer screw on the sling stud.

 

[usaral63]

Least you didn't run over your wife's cat! Easy fix, do the re locate and plug that hole...........next time you won't have to do that!

 

[bearcreek]

I'd leave it, but if it bothers you that much, you could always order a new stock with a sling swivel already installed.

 

[Bfh_auto]

Plug the hole and try again. This is a lesson in do it once do it right. At least it’s a cheap lesson. 1/4” hole, 1/4 dowel glued in, intentionally JUST below surface height, drill theough the dowel and try it again.hopefully with a longer screw on the sling stud.

This is what I do for swivels that have worked loose. I would do the same for an oops. Or I would leave it....

 

[jmr40]

Leave it alone. Use as is. Won't hurt a thing.

 

[Slamfire]

Oh bugger!

It is not the end of the world, just obsessive compulsive behaviors kicking in. Yes, we would all like things to line up, traffic to move on the right side of the road, things to be on top of other things, or inside other things, but never messily lying about.

Don't obsess about it. Try to forget. Just sling the shotgun and go shoot it. After enough scratches, you will barely notice it.

 

[George Dickel]

That would drive my CDO condition absolutely nuts.
CDO is similar to OCD, yet alphabetized, as it should be.
Mount it straight, plug hole, and refinish stock. Done.

I'm the same way, it will bug me to no end if something is not right. It only has to be off a miniscule bit where no one else will notice but if I know it is there it drives me crazy.

 

[481]

Yesterday I attempted to install a rear sling swivel into the stock of my Mossberg 500 shotgun. I am not a gunsmith but thought it was a job I could handle. I was wrong.

View attachment 1139382

As you can see, my bumbling stupid self got the stud off center. I am very upset by this and feel like a failure. This is not a high dollar gun and I plan to use it for home defense but this still bothers me greatly.

What would you all do about this? Should I take it to a local gunsmith here or just attempt to live with it? I am very depressed and just need some advice. Thank you.

If it bugs you that much (having the hole left behind should you decide to try to repair it), there's always the option of purchasing a replacement stock and having it done correctly.

 

[dh1633pm]

I say, no harm, no foul. Leave as is, or apply a simple fix. Remember baseball. The hardest thing is to hit a round ball with a round bat or drill a perfectly centered hole in a round piece of word. Who doesn’t have a least one rifle with a slightly off centered sling mount hole.

 

[RetiredUSNChief]

Plug the hole and try again. This is a lesson in do it once do it right. At least it’s a cheap lesson. 1/4” hole, 1/4 dowel glued in, intentionally JUST below surface height, drill theough the dowel and try it again.hopefully with a longer screw on the sling stud.

This is an excellent way to do this. Do NOT drill and install in a different location...you'll be able to see your screw up then.

This way, by re-drilling at the plugged location the sling stud will be over the plug.

And use the smallest size dowel required to plug the hole, which will leave the maximum amount of stock wood.

 

[jrmiddleton425]

If you feel like a failure after drilling a single off-center hole, all I can tell you is, you need to find something to occupy yourself

That's so insignificant that as long as you can use it, I'd just leave it that way.

Stop thinking about it. Put that shotgun away for a week and you'll forget you did it.

 

[mokin]

It's not that bad but I understand it bugging you. It would bug me too. Thing is I usually learn a lot more when I make a mistake or things don't go as advertised the first time. Follow what @WestKentucky advised. The gun will look better and you'll feel better. If you don't tell anyone about the stud being off center the first time, they'll never know.

 

[KY DAN]

Why do you need a sling on a home defense shotgun?

I can even get my deer rifles out of a safe without the sling catching on something, I can't imagine the possibilities when there is crap in your pants and a pulse rate of 170.

Also I think your being overly dramatic about this "mistake".

Stuff happens so either accept it or change it.

Stop crying on the internet

 

[trackskippy]

Id leave it alone. Its not that far off and a plug will be more noticeable, and whos to say you dont do the same thing "again"?

Then again, that stock is pretty long, youll get it right sooner or later. Or not.

 

[redcon1]

Life's too short to sweat the little things. I'd definitely just move on to another project.